Published Weekly at 81.00 a Vear by Cieorge W. Tork A Co., 331 Dearborn St. 



Entered at the Post-Offlce at Chicago as Second-Class Mail-Matter. 



QBORQE W. YORK, Editor. 



CHICAGO, ILL,, DEC, 29, 1904. 



VoL XLIV— No, 52. 



(Sbitortal Ticks anb Comments 



Annual Index Number a Double One. 



Again we have come to the last number of the Ameri- 

 can Bee Journal of another year. And this is the one that 

 contains the index to its contents for 1904. Those who 

 have carefully preserved each weekly copy as it came, will 

 find the index a great help. We have tried to make it as 

 complete and correct as possible. 



In this number will also be found a generous slice of the 

 St. Louis National convention report. We expect very soon 

 to have another double number in which to complete it. 

 Then we will soon have the reports of the Chicago-North- 

 western, the Illinois State convention, the Ontario, and 

 doubtless others. So there is a lot of very practical and 

 helpful convention reading ahead for all who are to have 

 the weekly American Bee Journal during 1905. Besides, 

 we have arranged for the usual good department matter. 



Experienced Convention Men for Conventions. 



At the prompt opening of one of the sessions of the re- 

 cent Chicago-Northwestern it seemed just a little slow in 

 getting started. As it was very noticeable to the chairman, 

 he cast about for the cause, and soon saw that only one or 

 two of the best convention men were present. Shortly sev- 

 eral more entered, and then things began to hum. The 

 presence or absence of only two or three experienced con- 

 vention men makes a very great difference in any conven- 

 tion. 



Good convention men need not do all the talking. 

 Sometimes they speak only when there is a lull. But they 

 should always be ready to take part in the discussions. In 

 order to do this they must, of course, be able to speak from 

 their own experience or from a wide reading ; if both, all 

 the better. Dr. C. C. Miller, C. P. Dadant, N. E. France, 

 Ernest R. Root, Emerson T. Abbott, W. Z. Hutchinson, 

 Wm. M. Whitney, and many others that might be named 

 were among the good convention men at the Chicago-North- 

 western meeting lately. They helped make things move. 

 The aggregate of their apiarian experience and opinions 

 were equal to almost any or all questions that might be 

 found in a question-box. 



If we were asked to make only one suggestion to any 

 local convention anywhere, it would be this : Try to have 

 present several person; like the ones we have named. If 



necessary, it will pay to "chip in " and pay their expenses, 

 in order to have them on hand. We think we could select 

 SO or more good convention men with whom we are per- 

 sonally acquainted. They are scattered from Maine to 

 California, and from Ontario to Cuba. Every successful 

 bee-keepers' convention owes much to the presence and par- 

 ticipation of the good convention man. And many of them 

 are being trained and developed from year to year. Hence, 

 the improvement in the bee-convention of the past decade 

 or more. 



Bee-Culture in Arabia. 



Something is told about it in Praktischer Wegweiser by 

 Mr. Bourgeois. The Arabians are more skillful and fear- 

 less as bee-keepers than many of the French people. When 

 working at the bees they have a vessel of glowing coals 

 upon which they throw smoke-producing seeds. Though 

 often trouserless, they are yet seldom stung. The hives, 

 generally on the ground, lie horizontally in two rows, one 

 on the other, the whole covered with boughs and weeds. 

 The hive is a cylinder 8 inches in diameter, and 3 or 4 feet 

 long, both round openings closed with a cover woven from 

 straw, or a piece of cork. 



He takes the honey by removing the hinder cover, cut- 

 ting out the combs as far as he can reach, then doing the 

 same thing at the other end. In a good season he gets 3 or 

 4 quarts of honey from a colony, which he sells on the mar- 

 ket. After pressing out the honey the combs remaining are 

 pressed into balls and sold or traded for trash to Jewish 

 peddlers. 



The Arabian is fond of honey, and when he entertains 

 foreigners he melts tegether butter and honey, and each 

 guest, sitting on his mat, dips his piece of bread in the dish. 



Shallow vs. Deep Extracting-Combs. 



Perhaps the great majority of bee-keepers who produce 

 extracted honey use the same frame in the extracting super 

 as in the brood apartment. A chief reason for this lies in 

 the fact .that it is easier to have only one size of frames, 

 and'brood-frames already on hand may be used in the ex- 

 tracting super. There is greater expense, too, in shallow 

 frames than in deep frames to hold the same amount of 

 honey. All this admitted, there are still arguments in favor 

 of the shallow extracting frame that induce some to keep on 



